Cosy Prisons
by SandyLee Potts
Summary: Connor and Abby stuck in the Cretaceous.


Connor rolled over in his make-shift bed, sniffling and then sneezed, coughed and then he groaned. They had been stuck in the Cretaceous for ninety days now, just the two of them, the only people on the planet for centuries to come.

He had been caught out on a really cold and wet day, he had lost his gloves and his jacket whilst trying to rescue a baby raptor that had become lodged in a crevice close to their cave. He had been trying to pull it out, when it began raining, and had finally hauled out the youngster just as its mother came along. He had been soaked to the skin, with his hair plastered to his head, and his thin clothes sticking to his body.

Abby had looked at his soaked clothes, his t-shirt clinging to his muscles, defining his taut muscles, and she remembered how good he had looked. That had been a week and a half ago, and Connor's cold had become worse and become full blown 'flu.  
He had spent the last ten days stuck up in their cave, sniffling, sneezing, coughing and his stiff and aching muscles had kept him in their bed of ferns.

She scouted around the wilderness looking for food, and hoped that Connor would pull through. She was worried because he had avoided taking any medication, saying that he wasn't that bad and that he would recover soon.

Connor had become a master at fishing, and quite often, he would come back with a haul of two or three fish to eat. She tried to spear a fish herself, failing miserably, and then she saw something laying by the waters edge. Wading over to it she began to grin as she realised what she had found. Picking up his jacket, she squeezed out the excess water and was quite surprised when something inside began to wriggle.

Carefully she threw the jacket onto the river bank away from the water, and gingerly went to look at whatever was making his jacket move in such a weird way. She smiled when she saw a tail sticking out of the sleeve, and carefully pulling out the creature she was pleased to see a large fish thrash in her hands, before the effects of being pulled out of the water took effect and it died in her hands.

Normally Abby would have been horrified at seeing a creature die in this manner, but she was hungry, and hadn't eaten properly for several days. Tonight they would feast!  
She held his wet jacket, and the fish and slowly began the trudge home when she caught the strong fragrance of a nearby tree.

Slowly identifying each tree she found the one she could smell...

A camphor tree, she remembered that camphor was used in medication, and the pungent smell of the leaves would clear nasal passages. Grabbing a small branch, she took it with her, back to the cave which had become their home.

Entering the dark cave, she went over to check on Connor for fever. He was still warm to the touch, and she knew his fever would rise once more during the night, and that it would be a while until he was over the worst of his illness. His nose was still red where he'd used his sleeve to wipe his nose, and his eyes looked puffy, and sore.

Putting the camphor leaves in a pot along with some water, she began to warm the concoction on the campfire they had made. Soon the small cave was filled with the smell of the tree. She watched as Connor began to stir and he breathed in deeply as he woke.

"Oh Abby, I can breathe again, finally! Thank you. You're a star! You've been looking after me all week. You didn't have to."

"No, I like looking after you, especially after the way you returned that injured raptor back to its mother." She kissed him gently on his forehead. Before snuggling up to him.

"Oh, I hate being ill, and I hate being here. I've been stuck in bed for a over a week, and being stuck in this time period, well ... it's beginning to feel like prison."

"Surely it's a Cosy Prison though?"

This made Connor smile, and he began to chuckle.

"Oh don't make me laugh, it hurts when I laugh."

Abby had taken more of the leaves and ground them down into a paste. Applying the paste to Connor's torso had been the best part of her day, and she found that she enjoyed touching his bare but defined chest.

The paste on his body had a lovely warm feeling, it opened his nasal passages and not only could he breath properly, but the warmth on his chest helped him to recover.

Later, when Connor was able to walk, she had shown him the camphor tree. She showed him where she had found his jacket, and snuggled up to him as her own energy began to wane.

-o-o-o-

A week later, Connor had recovered. He sat at the entrance of their cave, gutting a fish that he had caught. He was wearing his jacket and had never been more pleased to see it again after Abby had left it out to dry in the sun. He just wished he could find his gloves.

He looked up as Abby began to stir. She was curled up in their makeshift bed, suffering with a terrible cold.

Picking up a bowl of the camphor paste he had made earlier, he took it over to her.

"Here you go cell mate, your medicine as required."

"Cell mate?" Abby questioned as she dabbed delicately at her nose.

"Yeah, remember what I'd said about being couped up in here? That it was like a prison?"

"It sure is a Cosy Prison." She agreed, and looked around their makeshift home, as Connor began to smear the camphor paste onto her chest...

Abby sighed. "Is there any evidence of hat anomaly opening any time soon?"

Connor shook his head sadly.  
"The anomaly could open three hours, three days, three weeks, three months, or even three years from now. We're stuck here until it does."

"Our very own prison..." Connor surmised.


End file.
